Google settles a score with ComScore — Chief Executive Eric Schmidt got straight to the point as he opened up Google's quarterly earnings conference call. Click growth, he said in a matter-of-fact tone, was much higher than speculated upon “by third parties.” Hmm. Wondering who he might have been referring to?

Apple orders aluminum 13-inch MacBook shells, 3G iPhone chips — Separate reports have revealed that Apple's next wave of products for 2008 is soon to enter various stages of production, with orders placed for aluminum shells for the company's next-generation 13-inch MacBooks and a manufacturer chosen for the iPhone's 3G chipset.

Yahoo-Google Deal Advances — Yahoo Inc. moved closer to outsourcing its search advertising to Google Inc. after an initial test of the system yielded what the two firms deemed positive results, people familiar with the matter said. — A partnership could give Yahoo some needed leverage …

Microsoft Acquires Farecast — We're excited to confirm that Farecast has been acquired by Microsoft! This acquisition creates tremendous opportunities for the Farecast team and our customers. We look forward to sharing more details in the weeks to come. On behalf of the Farecast team, thank you.

May We Help You? — From the very beginning, we've always wanted to make sure that developers had all of the formal and informal support needed to build and to run their applications. — At first the task of monitoring the AWS Forums was a rotating part-time assignment.

Microsoft's Ozzie gives open-source outlook — People trying to get a sense for Microsoft's direction will be listening closely in the coming months to Ray Ozzie, who has assumed the role of chief software architect in advance of Bill Gates ending his full-time role.

BlackBerry Nine Thou-what? Bring on the BlackBerry 9100! — If the delayed impact of the Canadian tidal wave hasn't been completely underwhelming of late, it appears another new BlackBerry could be hiding around the corner. Throw down the red carpet and bring out the welcoming party …

Google Maps Predicts Traffic Conditions — Google Maps can now predict traffic information for any day of the week and time of the day, based on past conditions. By default, if you click on the Traffic button in a supported area from the US, Google Maps shows real-time traffic information.

What's Going On With Red Hat Desktop Systems? An Update — Red Hat is well known as a supplier of server systems, so the latest developments with our desktop products and technologies sometimes find themselves in the shade. It's time for an update on the current state of the desktop at Red Hat.

Rocketboom creator pulls plug on auction of Twitter account — It appears that for now at least, we won't get to find out the value of identity on Twitter. — A few days ago, Rocketboom creator Andrew Baron put his Twitter account up for sale on eBay, offering access to his 1,500-plus followers (it's now at 1,757 followers).